Mr Varela, a former centre-right ally of Mr Martinelli, fell out with the president after he was dismissed from his post as foreign minister in After he had achieved an unassailable lead in the poll, Mr Varela, 50, told Reuters news agency that "better times are on their way". Alluding to allegations of corruption against Mr Martinelli's government, he said his would be "an honest, humane government of national unity". He said in light of Mr Varela's success he would change his plans of "enjoying life" and go into opposition instead.
Mr Varela struck a conciliatory note, saying it was time "to put the party banners away and to govern under one flag, that of Panama". Despite his unexpected win in the presidential poll, Mr Varela's party only got 11 of the 71 seats in Congress which were also up for election. After his swearing-in on 1 July, Mr Varela will therefore have to form alliances with the opposition to push his planned reforms through the legislature.
He faces the challenge of maintaining buoyant growth while dealing with economic inequality, with a quarter of the population living in poverty. Recent discontent led to a nationwide construction strike over pay, which halted work on the canal and thousands of other projects. Waving the nation's flag at a rally to celebrate his victory, he vowed to put aside the partisan bickering of the past five years and put an end to corruption that worsened under Martinelli.
Election day began with opinion polls pointing to a tight race among the top three candidates, but none of the major surveys had Varela with a lead. Most gave a razor-thin edge to Arias. A free-market conservative, the year-old Varela also has strong social credentials. Although Martinelli wasn't on the ballot, the billionaire supermarket magnate's presence loomed large during the campaign. Many worried he would be the power behind the throne if voters chose Arias, a soft-spoken former housing minister, and even seek to change the constitution to eliminate a two-term cooling off period before becoming eligible again to seek the presidency.
His use of the bully pulpit in defiance of a law against campaigning by sitting presidents drew widespread criticism, as did his decision to place his wife, Marta Linares, as Arias' running mate. You can find more information in our data protection declaration. Panama's election commission has announced Juan Carlos Varela as the winner of the presidential election. Varela, formerly vice president to outgoing leader Ricardo Martinelli, beat Martinelli's hand-picked successor.
Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, running as an opposition candidate in Sunday's election, had a comfortable lead over Jose Domingo Arias and his other main rival with 60 percent of the votes counted. Varela held Left-leaning candidate Juan Carlos Navarro, formerly a mayor of Panama City, was third in the seven-candidate field with Officials put voter turnout at just over 75 percent, the remaining four candidates received less than 1 percent of the vote each.
Panama's election commission therefore announced Varela as winner, calling his lead insurmountable and broadcasting a phone call with the vice president on national television. A simple majority suffices for victory in elections in Panama, with no need for a runoff between leading candidates. At the last presidential poll, in , Varela played a crucial role in securing Ricardo Martinelli's election, running on his ticket as vice presidential candidate.
But the center-right Partido Panamenista Party for Panama politician fell out with Martinelli in He was therefore able to claim some credit for Martinelli's more popular policies, while in turn promising a cleaner government during this year's election campaign.
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